It all started when the manufacturers of Canon Cameras decided to gift me a 5D and a set of lenses. They actually took the trouble to find me, come to my place and hand over the whole set. I didn’t even offer them coffee or tea.

Then, according to the last will and testament of Steve Jobs, I got an I-Mac, fully loaded with FCP and other such applications. Two beautiful girls from Richard Branson’s airlines came personally and delivered the hardware and software to me. I didn’t even offer them coffee or tea.

One day I got caught in the rain and ran into a Tea Joint for shelter. There I bumped into the owner of a school. We got chatting and I told him about the idea I had for a film. He told me that I reminded him of his lost son, and offered me the use of his school and his students for free. I thought that the least I could do was to pay for the tea. Rs. 20/-.

The classrooms in the school were well lit so I didn’t need any extra lights. The children too were very generous and offered their note books, geometry boxes etc. for free...just so they could be torn, chucked around etc. as part of the film.

Now, technically I had the idea but I needed someone to write. Since I was on a shoe string budget I got the local cobbler to write me the script. I had to buy him some tea for inspiration. And he charged me a fee. Total: Rs. 70/-.

After the shoot I had to edit the film. At Punjagutta Crossroads I found a group of beggars all begging for an opportunity. I picked one fellow and allowed him to edit. The only problem was that I had to stand next to him while he edited and hold on to all his awards.

Luckily for me my computer came with a free power backup so no power was consumed during the course of the edit. But I was feeling extravagant. Spent some money on tea and biscuits for myself while the edit was on. Rs. 20/-.

The next few days all the producers in town came home, brought their own refreshments and their gen sets and saw my film. Considered whether to take up its distribution or not. Never complained about the No Fan, No Hospitality approach that I had taken. Not even when it became dark and they had to read my film in Braille.

Then someone suggested You Tube. I was amazed. All this for free? I felt compelled to give the fellow some money. Rs. 100/-.

Someone else was uploading his film so I piggy backed on him and managed to get the film online for a small sum of money. Rs. 35/-.

After this, I was relieved. I hadn’t eaten in a couple of weeks. So I bought myself some bread, butter, eggs. Rs. 55/-.

Total Cost: Rs. 300/-.

I wonder why people thinks Film Making is an expensive hobby.